The Unique Orbit of NASA’s Newest Planet Hunter

The TESS mission, led by MIT, aims to discover thousands of new planets orbiting nearby stars. TESS will operate in a special elliptical orbit, maximizing sky coverage. After launch, it will use the moon's gravity to stabilize its orbit, allowing it to observe the sky for most of its 13.7-day orbit. TESS will transmit data to Earth, enabling the study of nearly the entire sky over two years, potentially identifying thousands of exoplanets.

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